About ninety party officials attended a 3-day (January 29-31) training program in Phnom Penh, sponsored by the National Democratic Institute (NDI), gearing up for the country’s upcoming communal council election.

The attendance list includes officials from the Cambodian People Party (CPP), Funcinpec party, and Sam Rainsy party (SRP), and together they look for loopholes and irregularities in the election procedures.

NDI's project director Preap Kol says that the training is intended to teach officials on how to better observe the election. And the skills that they have acquired will be passed on to their party members.

NDI plans to train up to 240 people from Cambodia’s top three parties. The communal council members election is scheduled for April 2007.